Lifestyle Choices Recommendations

Happy day my friends!

Today I will discuss lifestyle recommendations, but before that, let me provide some background information to help you understand why these recommendations are so important.

As you may recall from the previous Health & Lifestyle blog, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 6 out of 10 American adults have a chronic disease condition, and 4 out of 10 have multiple chronic conditions.1 Moreover, a study conducted by The Commonwealth Fund shows that while USA spend the most on expensive health technologies and procedures plus have the highest rate in preventive measures (like cancer screening and flu vaccinations), it has the lowest expectancy of life, the highest chronic disease population (twice higher than the average) and the highest number of hospitalizations among 11 high-income countries2. These facts may seem puzzling, but they reveal that our technological healthcare system is not the solution to the chronic disease population.

Furthermore, the introductory chapter of the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans states that “unhealthy dietary intakes, tobacco use, and not enough physical activity, among other risk factors, are related to the leading causes of deaths in the United States”.3 In fact, 70% of deaths in the US are due to chronic diseases4, and the cause of these are unhealthy lifestyle choices.

It is clear that conventional western medicine, although excellent in the treatment of infectious diseases, and acute traumas and emergencies, is not effective at treating chronic diseases. The medications that conventional medicine offers only help manage and prolong the chronic disease as they treat the symptoms but not the root cause of the disease. In most cases, the medications have secondary effects often leading to complications.

However, there is good news for the chronic disease population. More than 2oo,ooo medical studies confirm healthy lifestyle choices are the key to health, vitality and the enjoyment of life. The constant increasing independent, evident-based, peer-reviewed scientific studies show that food and other lifestyle choices are essential for the prevention, treatment and reversal of chronic diseases.5 Poor lifestyle choices create the conditions for the development of illnesses, while healthy lifestyle choices create the right conditions for health.

What do all these mean? It means that we have a choice. We have a choice to walk on the path of illness or we can decide to walk on the path of wellness through our lifestyle choices. The path of Health and WellBeing starts with accepting the responsibility of our choices. It means that if in the past we were not aware of the facts mentioned above, NOW WE ARE. Awareness is the first step for change.

To achieve better health and wellbeing, the CDC recommends the following lifestyle choices:

1. Move towards healthy eating habits to prevent illnesses. If your eating habits are poor, start with the USDA My Plate recommendations and gradually transition to a predominantly plant-based diet. The USDA my plate recommendation are:

1. Emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products

2. Includes a variety of protein foods such as seafood, lean meats and poultry, eggs, legumes (beans and peas), soy products, nuts, and seeds.

3. Limit intake of added sugars, sodium, saturated fats, trans fats, and cholesterol.

4. Stays within your daily caloric needs

If you have an existing chronic disease condition and would like to be free of medication, studies have shown that a plant-based diet can be used to treat and reverse such conditions. A lifestyle medicine practitioner can prescribe the right diet for you.

2. Increase your physical activity. Physical activity is anything that gets your body moving.

1. Move more and sit less.

2. Each week adults need 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity, and

3. 2 days of muscle strengthening activity, according to the current Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans

3. Improve your sleep health by following these CDC guidelines:

1. Be consistent in going to bed at the same time each night and get up at the same time each morning, including on the weekends

2. Make sure your bedroom is quiet, dark, relaxing, and at a comfortable temperature

3. Remove electronic devices, such as TVs, computers, and smartphones, from the bedroom

4. Avoid large meals about 3 hours and alcohol about 4 hours before bedtime, and cut-off caffeine by 3:00 pm.

5. Get some exercise. Being physically active during the day can help you fall asleep more easily at night.

4. Avoid excessive drinking. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans states that adults of legal drinking age can choose not to drink. If drinking, do it in moderation by limiting intake to 2 drinks or less in a day for men or 1 drink or less in a day for women, on days when alcohol is consumed.

5. Stop smoking. Smoking leads to disease and disability and harms nearly every organ of the body.

I know. This recommendation can feel overwhelming to some of us. I invite you to take

a deep breath in… and exhale...

Remember, you don’t have to make all these changes at once. Little steps towards your health goals are the key to success. Start with the easiest and simple lifestyle change, and then build on your successes. I am confident that as you take one step after the other, creating long lasting positive habits, you will move along the path of your improved health and wellbeing.

On the next Health & Lifestyle blog I will discuss the relationship between brain health and mental health. Until then!

Ready to start your journey to an Empowered WellBeing w/Coach Edna?

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Was this blog informative? Do you want to know more about this or other health and lifestyle topic? Leave a comment below or contact me. I'll be happy to answer and/or provide additional information.

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Footnotes:

1. https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/about/index.htm

2. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2020/jan/us-health-care-global-perspective-2019#:~:text=The%20U.S.%20

has%20the%20highest%20chronic%20disease%20burden%20and%20an,of%20physicians%20in%20the%20U.S.

3. https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/sites/default/files/2020-07/PartB_Ch1_Intro_first-print.pdf

4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5876976/#:~:text=Additional%20statistics%20are%20quite%20stark,toward%20chronic%20diseases%20%5B5%5D.

5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=lifestyle